Lockstitch shoe sewing machine



Jan. 5, .l N HOPKINS LocxsTITcH sHoE SEWING MACHINE Filed Feb. 9; 1929 Patented Jan. 5, 1932 Y .cme-p sufi-s JERSEY NATHAN E. lHOPKINS, or YRoeKInANn, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To UNITED SHOE MAOETNEEY CORPORATION, OE PATEESON, NEW JERSEY, A COEPOEATION or NEW j roc'Ks'TIirioir'SHOEY SEWING MACHINE Application Vfiled. Fehruary), 1929. Serial N0.338,751. Y

lThe present inventionfrelates'to lockstitch shoe sewing machines of the so-called McKay type Which comprise a straighti.hook needle,

a shuttle, a shoe supporting horn arranged to extend inside of the shoe and aneedle threading Whirl located in the horn.

The invention is herein illustrated as em-A bodied in a loclistitchshoe sewing machine of the McKay type which is'intended-as an improvement onV the machine disclosed in the pending application of Bernard T. Leveque' for a lockstitchgsevving machine, lediFebruary 18, 1927, vSerial No. 169,203, although Inthemachinedisclosed in the Leveolue ,l

application and also in certain other McKay lockstitch sewing .machines a take-upis provided for pulling the needle thread from the shuttle down towards the Work, aiporton'of the loop, however, being left `standingabove the Work so that the needle,.during its `retracting stroke, canfdraWv thread fromfthe loop. Also, in these machines, Vthe shuttle is utilized to draw thread fromthe supply as the loop of needle thread passes over* the shuttle'.V `The construction, arrangement and timing of the parts of these machinesnecessitates thatrthe needle Aloop ybe drawn fromthe shuttle by the take-up While thethread is being Wound around the needle by the Whirl,

and also that the thread be pulled `from theV supply rbythe shuttle While the Whirl is in Such apposition as to'cause the thread to be bent sharplyl over the edge of the. opening in the plate covering the Whirl and forming the top surfaceofthe horn. Consequently the thread is subjected to considerable strain and friction during both of theseoperations With aconsequent liability of injury to the thread and interference With the of the Stitches oftheV sea rlfhe object of lthe present invention isr to remedy the .defects abovev noted inthe :opi

eration of lock'stitch'McKay shoe sewing machines and produce a construction and arproper formationl rangement of parts which will not only facilitate the operations'of drawing thread' from the 'supplyr as the needle 'loop passes over* the shuttle and of taking up the needle loop, but Will also enable the needle to be threaded more readily and with greater certainty. n

With the above objeoti'n vi-eW, the presentl invention contemplates arranging the needle in the machine so that the needle barb-or open side` of the needle faces at an angle to the line of feedon the'shuttle sid-cof the needle and contemplates threading the needle Aby rotatin'g the Whirl ina direction Which Will' carry the thread 'first to theV shuttle side of' the needle. In lockstitch McKay shoe sevv-, ing machines, as ordinarilyI constructed, this causes the Whirl, when viewed ,from above, to rotate in a clockwisedirection; lBy arranging -.the needle with its barbl facing at an angle to the line of'feed and by rotating the Whirl in ,a clockwise direction the thread is lai-d in the hook of the,` needle before the Whirl has made a' half revolution, andthe taleup can act before the thread has been Wrapped around` the needle to such, -an extent as to interfere With the proper takingupof the loop, or to put any injuriousffriction thereon.' Also, at the/time the needle loopis passing over the shuttle and thread is being y pulledfromthe supply, the hole in the Whirl canV be substantially `at .its greatest 'distance from the last needle hole so that the thread`l Vleads substantially in a straight line to the n-eedlehole andv is not bent sharply over the edge ofthe plate coveringthe Whirl. f With the parts constructed and arranged tooperate inV accordance with the present invention,` there results a decidedimprovement in the ease and certaintyof vhandling a thread byV the needle, take-up and shuttlawith les-sin.- jury toi or breakage. of the thread,an`d Witha lesseningofthe strain and Wear on the Op-` c eratingfpartsof thek machine. `Referring to the drawings accompanying this applicatiomrFig. l is a vieWin side ele-l vation of a lockstitch 'shoe Sewingina-chineY of the McKay type ernbodying-,theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a detail View illustrating somewhat diagrammatically the position of the vWhirlv With' relation to the needle at substantially' the conclusion of the taking-up action of the take-up; and Fig. 3 is a detail view illustrating somewhat diagrammatically the position of the whirl with relation to the last needle hole while the thread is being pulled from the supply as the needle loop passes over the shuttle.

vErice )t as hereinafterA described, the machine il ustrated in the drawings is the same in the construction, arrangement and Inode of operation `of its various parts as the machine disclosed in the application of Bernard T. Leveque hereinbefor'e' referred to. rlhe machine comprises a column 2, in the lower portion of which is mounted an electric motor 4 by which the cooperating parts of the machine are driven. 4 The main cam shaft is indicated at 6 and is ournalled in the upper portion of the column. The shaft 6 is driven from the motor 4 through a clutch 8, horizontal shafts 10 and 12 in the base of the machine, and a vert-ical shaft 14. The clutch 8 is controlled from a treadle lever 16 by means of which the clutch may be actu- I. ated to connect and disconnect the shafts 10 and 12 from the source of power.-

Theshoe supporting` horn is indicated at 18 and is provided in its tip with a whirl 20 of usual construction which is driven through suitableconnections from the vertical shaft 14, these connections being the same as those disclosed in the Leveque application except forv the provision of an intermediate bevel gear 22 in the connections between the horizontal shaft 24 and the vertical shaft 26 at the airisvof rotation of the horn. The provi# sion of this intermediate gear causes the whirl tov rotate in a. clockwise direction when viewed from above which is the direction opposite to therdirection ofrota'tion of the whirl in the machine of the Leveque application.

Ther needle of the machine is indicated at 28 and this needle as well as the shuttle, indicated diagrammatically at 30 in Fig. 2, and

5 the take-up of the machine are actuated-by `Vthe same mechanisms as the corresponding parts of the machine disclosed in the Leveque applieation.

As clearly shown in Fig. 2, the needle 28 is arranged in the machine with its barb or open side facing at an angle to the line of feed on the Shuttle side of the needle and the whirl 2 0 rotates in adirection to carry the thread first to the shuttle side of the needle or, in

. other words, to that side of the needle towards which the barb or open side faces. In the machine of the Leveque application, the shuttle is actuated through connections from the needle actuating lever so that the shuttle passes through the needle loop during the downward movement ofthe needle, the relative positions of the shuttleV and needle at the limit of the downward stroke of the needle beingsubstantially as indicated in Fig. 2. In order to t thread the needle properly, the whirl must thread has been completely wound `around the.

needle or wound around so far as to interfere with the taking-up action. 1

Upon inspection` of Figs. 2 and 3 it will be noted that at the time the take-up is acting and also at the time the needle loop is being passed over the shuttle and thread is being drawn from the supply, the work has been fed, so that the. last. needle hole has been brought slightly beyond the edge of the hole in the cover plate 82 which holds the whirl in place in the horn. After the work is fed therefore, the thread leads from the thread hole in the whirl to the needle hole across the edge of the opening in the. cover plate. From an inspection of Fig. 2, it will be seen that during` the action of the talre-up the thread leads from the last needle hole to the needle in anearly horizontal plane so that there is no sharp'bend produced in the thread at the edge of the hole in the cover plate tendingl to put a frictional resistance on the thread and possibly injure the thread. From an inspection of F ig. 3, it will be seen that during the action of the shuttle in pulling thread from the supply, the thread will also lead in a substantially horizontal plane from thelast needle hole to the thread hole in the whirl so that at this time in the operation also there will be no sharp bend formed in the thread at the edge of the cover plate. Consequently, both during the taking-*up action of thetake-upf and the pulling-off action of the shuttle, the thread leads through the whirl to the last needle hole in such a manner as to form the least possible resistance to the 1nanip'ulation of the thread.

rlhe nature and object of the present invention having been indicated and a machine embodying the invention having been specilically described, 'what is claimed is'.

L1A lockstitch shoe sewing machine of the in the shoe, a needle'threading whirl located in the horn, and means for rotating the whirl in a direction to carry the thread first to the shuttle side of the needle and to complete the winding of the thread around the needle after the taking-up action has ceased; Y

2. A lockstitchk shoe sewing machine of the McKay type having, in combination, stitch forming devices including la straight hook needle arranged with its barb facing at an angle to the line of feed, a shuttle on the side kof the line of feed towards which the needle barb faces acting to pull off thread from the Vsupply as kthe needle thread passes over the shuttle, a horn arranged to kextend within the shoe, a needle threading whirl located in the horn and means for rotating the whirl in a direction to carry the thread first to the shuttle side of the needle timed with relation to the shuttle to cause the thread to lead in a substantially horizontal plane from the last needle hole to thethread hole in the whirl during the thread-pulling action of the shuttle.

3. A lockstitch shoe sewing machine of they McKay type having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a straight hook needle arranged with its barb facing at an angle to the line of feed and acting on its retracting stroke to draw thread from the preceding needle loop, a shuttle on the side of the line of feed towards which the'needle barb faces, acting to pull off thread from the supply as the needle thread passes over the shuttle, a talre-up acting to draw the needle loop after passing over the shuttle down towards the work while the needle is in the work, a

horn arranged to extend within the shoe, a

needle threading Whirl located in the horn, and means for rotating the whirl in a direction to carry the thread first to the shuttle side of the needle timed to cause the thread to lead in a substantially horizontalk plane from the last needle hole to the thread hole in the whirl during the thread-pulling actions of the take-up and shuttle. I

4; A lockstitch shoe sewing machine of the McKay type having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a shuttle, a straight hook needle arranged with its barb facing at an angle to the line of feed on the shuttle side of the needle, a take-up acting to draw the needle loop after passing over the shuttle down towards the work while the needle is in the work, a horn arranged to eX- tend within the shoe, a needle threading whirl located in the horn, and means for rotating the whirl in a direction to carry the thread first to the shuttle side of the needle, timed to complete the winding of the threadaround the needle without interfering with the taking-up action.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

NATHAN F. HOPKINS. 

